Please help. I am going insane since updating my iMac (2007) system software to 10.9.4. It is now mind-numbingly slow, taking between 5-10 minutes just to start up, plus I now have to enter a password each time in order to use it. Have been desperately reading through similar posts, but I am not computer-savvy enough to fix the problem.
iMac (20-inch Mid 2007), OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
If you are able, It would help us to help you if we could have some more technical info about your iMac.
Please download, install and run Etrecheck.
Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic reporting tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft. Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software.
This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running the new OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac.
http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck
Copy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac's hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues.
Thank You.
Back up all data immediately, as the internal drive may be failing. Do nothing else until you have a backup.
When you have the problem, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES â–¹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View â–¹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above. Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first. Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.
Thanks MichelPM. I have downloaded and ran EtreCheck and the report is as follows:
EtreCheck version: 1.9.12 (48)
Report generated 20 July 2014 4:17:34 pm AEST
Hardware Information:
iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) (Verified)
iMac - model: iMac7,1
1 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
3 GB RAM
Video Information:
ATI,RadeonHD2400 - VRAM: 128 MB
iMac 1680 x 1050
System Software:
OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 0:6:37
Disk Information:
ST3250820AS Q disk0 : (250.06 GB)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 249.2 GB (20.11 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
USB Information:
Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard
LaCie LaCie Hard Drive USB 750.16 GB
disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB
disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted>: 66 KB
disk1s3 (disk1s3) <not mounted>: 66 KB
disk1s4 (disk1s4) <not mounted>: 115 KB
Gulyas LaCie (disk1s6) /Volumes/Gulyas LaCie: 750.16 GB (76.1 GB free)
Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Gatekeeper:
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions:
[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.2.48 - SDK 10.6) Support
[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.2.48 - SDK 10.6) Support
[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.2.48 - SDK 10.6) Support
[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.2.48 - SDK 10.5) Support
[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.2.48 - SDK 10.6) Support
[not loaded] com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1) Support
[not loaded] net.Thomson.iokit.USBLAN_usbpart (1.6.0) Support
Launch Daemons:
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
Launch Agents:
[loaded] com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist Support
User Launch Agents:
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support
[loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist Support
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
[not loaded] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper Support
User Login Items:
iTunesHelper
MyTomTomSA
KiesViaWiFiAgent
fuspredownloader
HP Product Research
Internet Plug-ins:
DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.0.0r458 Support
OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 Support
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support
Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.3.5f1 - SDK 10.6 Support
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30214.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 Support
Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 Support
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
Safari Extensions:
DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>: Version: 2.1.2.145
Audio Plug-ins:
BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9
AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9
iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins:
Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
3rd Party Preference Panes:
Adobe Version Cue CS2 Support
DivX Support
Flash Player Support
Time Machine:
Skip System Files: NO
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 232.09 GB Disk used: 213.36 GB
Destinations:
Gulyas LaCie [Local] (Last used)
Total size: 698.64 GB
Total number of backups: 237
Oldest backup: 2008-08-26 12:13:41 +0000
Last backup: 2014-07-20 05:05:05 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 698.64 GB > (Disk size 232.09 GB X 3)
Time Machine details may not be accurate.
All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
3% WindowServer
2% Safari
0% locationd
0% MyTomTomSA
Top Processes by Memory:
212 MB mds_stores
101 MB Safari
101 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent
95 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
52 MB Dock
Virtual Memory Information:
1.35 GB Free RAM
1.09 GB Active RAM
168 MB Inactive RAM
393 MB Wired RAM
279 MB Page-ins
124 KB Page-outs
Thank you for your help Linc Davis. I backed up my hard drive and restarted the computer at 4:10:15pm. It took 5 minutes to restart this time (which was better than the previous go). I then followed your instructions. The messages just go on and on, so I have selected a small portion from the beginning, and I apologise if this is more than you needed. I hope this helps tell you a little about what is happening. I will kep the "All Messages" window open for now, in case you need further information from it.
20/07/2014 4:10:15.572 pm com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.F994D991-00C5-4BF4-980F-B7700731E59D[628]) Could not terminate job: 3: No such process
20/07/2014 4:10:15.572 pm com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.F994D991-00C5-4BF4-980F-B7700731E59D[628]) Using fallback option to terminate job...
20/07/2014 4:10:15.601 pm com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.WebKit.Networking.8FBA0033-749C-441B-9C5F-3029C8C9805B[537]) Exited with code: 1
20/07/2014 4:10:23.966 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:25.022 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 9 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:34.348 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:35.564 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 9 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:44.876 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:45.940 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 9 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:55.327 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.help.tocgenerator) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds
20/07/2014 4:10:55.988 pm loginwindow[170]: ERROR | -[Application setAppContext:] | Unable to get PID for context [0,577677]
20/07/2014 4:10:55.989 pm WindowServer[171]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 36623
20/07/2014 4:10:55.989 pm WindowServer[171]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 36623
20/07/2014 4:10:55.990 pm WindowServer[171]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 36623
20/07/2014 4:10:55.990 pm WindowServer[171]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 36623
20/07/2014 4:10:55.990 pm WindowServer[171]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 36623
20/07/2014 4:10:56.048 pm com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ShareKitHelper[294]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.048 pm com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.internetaccounts[295]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.049 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.hp.devicemonitor[260]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.071 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.apple.UserEventAgent-Aqua[214]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.074 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.apple.FolderActions.enabled[279]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.354 pm UserEventAgent[11]: Captive: [UserAgentDied:142] User Agent @port=58907 Died
20/07/2014 4:10:56.566 pm loginwindow[170]: ERROR | -[ApplicationManager(AppleEventHandling) sendQuitEventToApp:withDelay:] | sendQuitEventToApp (HP Product Research): AESendMessage returned error -1712
20/07/2014 4:10:56.571 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: ([0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.AppleSpell[463]) Exited: Killed: 9
20/07/2014 4:10:56.762 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.apple.iTunesHelper.10592[287]) Exited with code: 1
20/07/2014 4:10:56.800 pm com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[158]: (com.apple.gamed[290]) Exited: Killed: 9
You have quite a few serious issues with your iMac.
FIrst, you have the dreaded " garbageware" MacKeeper installed on your iMac.
You need to completely uninstall this per these instructions.
http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
Second, your iMac's startup drive/ hard drive is getting very close to getting to minimum free space storage size limit.
Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto or Aperture, both have its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you are an iMovie user, iMovie has its own individual Trash location that needs to be emptied, too!
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive, that you to purchase, move the data to the external drive, then delete the original data off of your Mac's internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Moving iTunes library
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Moving iPhoto library
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
Moving iMovie projects folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289
Third, your iMac model is low on RAM.
3 GBs is really not enough RAM to operate your Mac under OS X Mavericks efficiently.
New Macs now ship with 8 GBs of RAM as minimum, base installed amount of RAM.
Your Mac model can take a maximum amount of 6 GBs of RAM.
I strongly recommend purchasing and installing enough RAM to meet the 6 GB RAM total.
You, probably, already have 2 GB RAM module installed.
You only need to replace the 1 GB RAM module with a 4 GB RAM module.
If you live in the U.S. , Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
OWC (macsales.com) has the 4 GB RAM module.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S4GB/
RAM is user installable and is, relatively, easy to install be newbie and novice Mac users.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_mid_2007_mem_h/
Good Luck!
Oh, wow. It looks like I have a bit of work ahead of me to get my Mac back to running efficiently. Thank you for your help. I will work through your advice step by step.
Bloody MacKeeper - I clicked on a free trial way back and I actually thought I had successfully uninstalled it, but obviously I was wrong. I have not been able to find a trace of it through searching my hard drive, so will have to look at how to best tackle that problem.
In the past few months I have removed all work documents, etc, off the hard drive and they are now solely on my external hard drive. I may also have to look at transferring all of my photos and music as well.
I am in Australia, but we have a fabulous Apple store in the next suburb, so I will speak to them about purchasing the additional RAM.
Thank you again.
As a first step, I suggest you reinstall the HP printing software, or remove it if you don't need it.
I caution you that trying to interpret "etrecheck" output as often as not results in a time-wasting fiasco.
Thanks Linc. I am still working through MichelPM's advice as well. It's taking a long time and while there is the tiniest improvement so far, it's still not good. Perhaps when I purchase the extra RAM things may help. Wondering if maybe I should not have installed the latest software on my 7 year old iMac - it was perfect until I "upgraded" 😟
Hello Everyone!
I was going out of my mind with this problem. My mail wouldn't download, when it did it wouldn't appear for long periods of time after clicking on the particular mailbox, my entire computer was slowed down to an almost stand still. YESTERDAY, I did a couple of things that seem to have done the trick.
My CPU didn't seem to be bogged down so I began trying some stuff...
1. I had a couple of cloud services that would always open upon startup. JustCloud and ZipCloud. For whatever reason, they didn't appear in my startup items and I didn't know how to get rid of them. Looked it up and found something that said to go to APPLICATIONS and just drag the apps to the trash to uninstall them. Did that. Didn't notice a difference - but it could have had a little bit of an effect.
2. I've always had apple mail checking my mail "every one minute" so that I get email as soon as it's sent. I changed that to "manually"because the computer seemed to be stuck in a process.
3. The next thing I did - which I think was the bullseye - is I turned off iCloud. I DO NOT use iCloud, so I never thought of it. HOWEVER, Mavericks seems to automatically turn this on! Grrr... I turned this off and everything is working easily again!!
Apple Mail is downloading email right away, emails appear in the mailboxes right away when I select them, and my system doesn't seem like it's having a seizure anymore.
Yesterday, more than 45 minutes had passed and I still could not get all of my email to download, and anything that did - wouldn't appear in my mailboxes yet. It was beyond frustrating and made it impossible to get anything done.
I constantly got the beach ball and I have regularly repaired my permissions. So it really seemed like the computer was stuck in a process somewhere.
Hope this helps someone else.
Slow iMac with 10.9.4 Mavericks
